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Sunday, November 27, 2005

Fun week!

Whew, what a busy week in the kitchen! The total ended up around 14 or 15 recipes with 13 of them being new ones. I think what we enjoyed most this past week was the Roasted Garlic and Fresh Rosemary Cloverleaf Rolls and Cranberry and Hazelnut Quick Bread.

When I woke up this morning it was very chilly out! Growing up in MN, when it hit 40 degrees in the winter you would break out the shorts! Now dealing with 110 degrees most of the year in Phoenix, when it hits 40 (like this morning) I felt like I had to bundle up to go jump in the snow! Brrr!

After we got back from the grocery stores today, I noticed I still had a fairly giant bag of cranberries in the refrigerator. I decided that I would go ahead and make some more muffins. I was not planning on it, but we had everything on hand and I had a few minutes to throw it together before lunch.

Cran-Apple Muffins are fairly quick to throw together using fresh cranberries and chunky diced apples. I like using Whole Wheat pastry flour in recipes like this, as it helps keep the muffins light and fluffy. Using a combination of half buttermilk and half apple cider gives them tenderness and an additional boost of apple flavor. A light coating of raw sugar on top gives a nice crackle and crunch.

I have the menu set for this week so keep a watch out for what new things come from the kitchen! I plan on at least 2 more recipes from Martha's cookie magazine and we will see what else we can do! Stay tuned!